Way too long

What is it with Chinese dramas? They tend to be, for the most part, twice as long as they need to be. I will be upfront and say that my rating is based upon my enjoyment of the whole thing. I found myself getting bored (a lot) and I left it for two weeks and finally went back to finish it up, because I can't leave a show unfinished.

The main couple? I loved both of them. I really enjoyed her in Love Me If You Dare and I was so glad that their own voices were used. Dubbing makes the whole thing even worse. They were very cute together, the kind of cute that you just have to smile when watching them. I felt that toward the beginning she had some entitlement going on, which irritated me. She kept breaking rules and then didn't understand why he wanted her to leave the program she was in. She felt it was better to apologize than to ask for permission, apparently.

Second couple - if a woman continues to chase a man and he keeps shutting her down, my opinion of her lowers. It's like she has no self-esteem. His reason for shutting her down, when he obviously liked her, was missing so he irritated me as well.

The older couple - had an interesting back story, but I didn't feel overly invested in them, either.

A lot of the medical stuff was incorrect, as it tends to be in these dramas. Do you not have a medical consultant? That takes away from the story as well.

There is quite a bit of action, some bromance, and it's low on angst, so if you are patient and your expectations aren't too high, you might enjoy this show.

Lire davantage

Please, for the love of all that is holy, pick a genre and stick with it!

I'll start with what I liked:
-the kisses. Let's call them for what they were, "fire"! After watching multiple shows with open-eyed, slack arms, dead fish kisses, these were exactly on point. These are the scenes that I rewatched, and the only reason I actually gave this a rating of 5.
-the acting was good, for what it was. I loved Park Gu Young in Dali and the Cocky Prince, and I liked her in this as well, though I didn't really love her character that much. When she kept trying to get him drunk (I'm so tired of drunk scenes), I found her to be irritating. Cha Eun Woo was basically like he's been in everything I've seen him in. Quiet whispery voice, serious. You could play this show and True Beauty side by side and get what I mean. Everyone else did an okay job.
-family and friendships
-happy ending

Then the stuff that I didn't like.
-Thankfully, I waited for all the episodes to be released before I tried watching this. If I hadn't, I would have given up early on. I think the programmers did a disservice to this show by making it so long to be finished, between an episode once a week, to pre-empted episodes. That being said, this show was entirely TOOOOO long and very repetitive. My Viki showed it as having episodes 0-15. Episode 0 and episode 15 were the same, basically a recap of what the show was about. After watching episode 0, I kept having feelings of Deja vu while watching episodes 1-4. Then there was the recap at the beginning of every episode, and the mini recaps throughout to remind us of what has been going on.
-This show shifted and lost its footing halfway through. Started out as a comedy, with the potential to be cute and quirky. Then it shifted to bullying and its effects, then it went to revenge melodrama with the mountain god. It should have been either a comedy or a melodrama but should not have tried to mix the two. I don't think it was successful.
-The whole mountain god storyline was completely unnecessary. It seemed so over the top melo after watching funny scenes. This storyline took up a lot of screen time, and I didn't enjoy it, especially since he had cursed this family and done terrible things and there were no consequences for him. That REALLY irritated me!
-This scene really stuck out to me, and I had a hard time getting past it - whenever the woman turns into a dog, her clothes drop and she has to have friends get her clothes to her because she's naked when she turns human again. In the scene where he kisses her and lifts the curse, she turns human and is completely dressed. Why?! This would have been a great opportunity to throw in some comedy by having her be naked as usual.

Normally, if I like a show less than others, I'm usually in the minority and say give it a try, you might like it. I have reservations here, unless you make the FF button your friend. I can't remember the last time I watched a show that was so repetitive.

Lire davantage

Could have been so much better

Not an original idea, by any means. However, I could have forgiven a lot if it had been better written.

Kim Dong Wook as Lee Jung Hoon and Moon Ga Young as Ha Na both did a good job with what they had to work with. My problems were these: 1) So he's able to remember everything - I don't see how that could prevent him from ever loving again. He held off and once he was interested in Ha Na I had a hard time understanding why. 2) Ha Na's character was too "stalker-ish" for me. He's not interested in her at all, yet she keeps showing up, asking him questions about things and generally making herself a nuisance. The actress is a beauty, and I loved the niceness of her character but otherwise she didn't endear herself to me. 3) Stalker storyline - that could have been written so much better, in such a way that it would be more of a surprise to us as a viewing audience. I was just happy to have it over with. 4) The two-year break up. So, you had fears of being in the public eye - hello?!?! You're public figures for heaven's sake! Her going to the US and them not having any contact at all for two years. In this age of technology (especially since she was always using her phone), it didn't make any sense. A breakup that lasts this long diminishes their love. How much could they possibly love one another if they are willing to be apart for that long? 5) The ending. Unbelievably rushed. No contact for two years, they run into one another in a book shop, and they act like virtual strangers. There wasn't enough time after this for us to get back to feeling like they were in love. Plus, the issues that drove them apart were magically resolved and not discussed. I really wish K-dramas would get a clue that we would like a little more at the back end of these shows, and maybe cut out some time-wasting stuff in the middle.

Liked:
The music was good.
Real kisses, thank you very much.
The very rare appearance of his smile
She's a beauty
Loved her sister

Lire davantage

Too much emotional baggage

I felt that the actors did a good job with what they were given. The concept of the "cells" was cute, but as we move further into the drama they are used more and more, and I felt it got very repetitive as a means to make more episodes.

My biggest problem with the show was the characters. Yumi - we are told that this is her third relationship. I must say I can see why. She was immature and needy, and wanted a relationship just because she was lonely. I know that this is unrealistic of me, but part of the reason I watch romances is to see love develop, and I like to feel like the person has found their perfect love. This was a case of "love the one you're with". I also have a problem with people having a physical relationship when ultimately the relationship doesn't work out. That just takes away the "specialness" in showing physical intimacy as part of a love relationship. Ku Woong - why they made him so scraggly looking is beyond me. He was emotionally stunted and wasn't willing to stand up for the relationship. Seo Sae Yi - Ku Woong's "friend" that wanted to be more. She was manipulative and worked hard to destroy Yumi and Woong's relationship, and Woong let her. Ruby - just overall irritating throughout, with the high voice, trying to be cute.

We were led to believe that the couple fell in love basically by looking into one another's eyes. I didn't feel that they had a strong emotional connection, and I didn't feel any chemistry between them. Throughout so much of this show I wanted to yell at the tv "just say something!". There was an inordinate amount of time of staring into space, or staring at one another, to the point that I felt like they just forgot their lines.

Big spoiler here - oh my gosh, the ending! I sat through hours of a relationship that I didn't really believe or care about (because I'm not a quitter!) to just have them look at each other, unemotionally, and agree to break up, and then go their separate ways. Needless to say, I won't be watching the follow-up to this show.

Lire davantage

This one got to me!

This is a slow (in a good way), simple and beautiful story. I'll start with the bottom line - it's been quite a while since I've cried watching something, and I cried a couple of times during this movie. I was swept into the story and could feel the nervousness of the female lead, but she wasn't portrayed as a loser at all. The meeting of the leads was shown in a good way, and I was rooting for them from the start. Wu Nien Hsuan as Yi Bin and Zhou Yi Ram as Tong Zhi Liao were perfectly cast. I could feel sparks between the two from the beginning. I was torn, I wanted to find out what happened, but I also wanted it to go on and on. It was a lovely journey of discovery and spoke to lost chances and regrets. The story line of the old lady and her regrets mirrored the lead couple perfectly.

Normally, I struggle with Chinese dramas, the episodic ones are normally too drawn out for me, and the movies often don't give me enough time to invest in the characters. add to that my problems with dubbing and overacting, you'll see my dilemma. This movie was, quite simply, a hidden gem. I happened upon it quite by accident. The script is good, and the acting is understated. There are no over-the-top characters, and they are all likeable in their own way. No love triangles, and there wasn't much time spent on any of the secondary characters, other than the old lady, so we really got to know the main couple.

I might watch it again, if only to get lost in the story once again. The ending is ambiguous, and I think that's for the viewer to decide what they want to happen. I choose to go the happily-ever-after route.

I can happily and unapologetically recommend this movie!

Lire davantage

Lovely

There are spoilers interspersed throughout my review, because some of them were things I liked, some I didn't.

LOVED:
1) Zhao Lu Si as Sang Zhi. She is so beautiful and bubbly, I felt she was perfectly cast for this. Finally, a show in which they didn't put her in a lot of oversized outfits.
2) Chen Zhe Yuan as Duan Jia Xu. I've not seen him in anything before and I loved him in this. First, he's gorgeous. Second, the character was a warm and caring person.
3) Romance chemistry - just wow! The ML said things that most women would love to hear from their man. The way he looks at her, sigh. Good kisses.
4) Story - knowing someone for a long time and developing a relationship. For the most part, this was handled well.
5) Victor Ma as Sang Yan. He was a terrific character. The dynamic between him and his sister, and him and his friends was such fun to watch.
6) SPOILER: It seems like most romances have a secondary female that used to be a girlfriend that comes back after years and wants to pick up where they left off. She thinks she's entitled to him because she wants him. FINALLY, this show portrays the female the way I feel about the secondary women in other dramas. She's a stalker and not-just-a-little unhinged. And I love how the FL told the stalker's friend to go with her to get some counseling! END SPOILER.
7) Ending - I cried.
8) The voices weren't too terrible and the roommates weren't stupid and irritating.
9) The focus was on the romance of the main couple. Not a lot of wasted time.
10) She met him when she was in middle school. The way they handled her crush, her youth, and how he felt about her was handled well. This could have been kind of creepy if he liked her too soon. And the progression of how his feelings changed made sense.
11) The brother's reaction to finding out his friend was dating his sister.
12) The fact that the ML didn't drink alcohol.
13) I know it's not realistic, but I love when the people haven't had relationships before. When he came out and said he'd never dated...he got me!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: (SPOILERS THROUGHOUT)
1) Sang Zhi acted in a very immature fashion when she was younger. I get that she was young, but when a girl has a crush on a guy, especially an older guy, she does everything she can to demonstrate how mature she is.
2) She's had a crush on him for literally years. She grows up, he confesses his feelings, and she says she needs to think about whether she likes him. I wanted to smack her upside the head. I felt so bad for him, but thank goodness he was patient. I think he knew, even if she didn't say anything. I was mad for a couple of episodes.
3) Her friends saying she needed to "test" him, and her doing it. Game playing in a relationship isn't a good thing, and it, again, made her look really immature.
4) Her making herself cry (when she was younger) to get her way. Once she grew up, I felt that she was still trying to manipulate people.
5) Them saying they would be there for each other, but then keeping things from the other because they didn't want to bother/overwhelm them.
6) One of the last episodes, he's alone in the living room drinking. She comes out and asks him about it, and he never opens up about what the problem is. AND, I really had a problem with the fact that the first time they were intimate he was drunk.
7) Parents, especially, complaining about the age difference. It was five years, people!

Kudos to the writers for not making this a long and drawn out story. My fast forward button got a good rest while I was watching this. It's low angst, light, fluffy, cute, and all the other things when you don't want something heavy. It's one of those shows that I put off, thinking it couldn't possibly be that good, and then I was disappointed when it was over. I will definitely be re-watching it at some point in time.

Lire davantage

Blown Away!

Some shows you wonder if you should continue wasting your time watching them, hoping they'll get better. Some shows you are anxious to finish all your chores so you can watch them. I kept vacillating back and forth between wanting to forego my life just so I could watch one more episode, but then being sad in advance, knowing this wonderful ride was coming to an end. I was so thoroughly invested in this show, now that I've finished it, I have to say I'm really sad it's over.

STORY: A new village and a new set of people for our leads to get to know and come to care about. I'll admit, the long hair on Wook in the first few episodes really drove me crazy. But then I realized it really suited his kind of quirky personality. There were some new twists in this season, which brings me to the reasons that I gave this a 9 rather than a 10 - and here are the spoilers:
- Really, the whole thing is a suspension of disbelief, which is what I loved about it, but the reason (or lack thereof) for the captain not being able to leave her village didn't make any sense.
- Too many loose ends at the end. Which is fine, if there ends up being a season 3 (though PLEASE don't make us wait two years!)
- Mentions of other villages. Great concept but again, I didn't like that it was just setting up for another season. Because if it doesn't happen, then we're all just disappointed.
- Main bad guy - he was able to get away?! Please, don't have him in the next season. I don't ever like to feel like the bad guys are untouchable and that nothing can stop them. Plus, one of the things that I appreciated about this show was that the police knew what they were doing - I'd like to feel that they'd plan for any eventuality.
- You had BETTER NOT kill off Detective Shin. A mine field, really!?!
But other than that, I thought that this season was just as good as the first. I'll say again, what I said in my review for season 1, I love found family. Again, it was in the village, with the team, with the detectives, and I loved the addition of Bo Ra, and when Wook was explaining to her what it means to be a family, that summed it up perfectly.
The Oh Il Yong storyline - it was brilliant. I didn't get a good vibe from him in the beginning, which is what was supposed to happen, but his storyline was powerful and surprising. And I loved the relationship between him and Wook.
I loved that Jong A played a more integral role, as well as the fact that she stepped up to make herself more indispensable and figured out how to find more missing children. Gotta be honest, the potential for her to see ghosts is exciting, but there is something to be said for having someone on the team that is a little bit out of the loop. You lose some of the elements of surprise if everyone knows what's going on.
This season, the detectives were starting to figure out that there was something different about this team. I like that Detective Shin knows, but the others don't, but they know that there is absolutely something strange going on. That, to me, was amusing.

ACTING/CAST: Stellar. I was glad to see Thomas, even though it was too brief. I continued to be impressed with everyone in the cast, but this time around I have to give a shout out to Lee Jung Eun as the Captain. She's one of those actresses that I love her in everything she is in. That sweet/beautiful face and smile, her short, round body (I mean that in the best possible way - don't you think that she would give the best hugs?), I'd love her to be my grandma, but then I remember I'm old and she'd have to be my sister, but still. I liked the clothes that the costume designer put her in, Peter Pan collars, knit comfy sweaters, long loose skirts and sensible shoes. She just seemed so approachable. And to have her be the first person you see when you enter the village and have her say that she's made food, come in and she'll explain what's going on - she was the heart of the village. Jung Eun's acting is normally understated, but there were times in this show that her pain, anger and loneliness were almost palpable.

And that was the conundrum for these villagers, especially those that had been there for a long time. You want the children to be able to move on, but it's heartbreaking when they do.

MUSIC: I especially loved the theme song, I found myself humming it - I loved hearing it at the beginning of each episode, but at the end I didn't like it so much because that meant the episode was over.

REWATCH: For me, this isn't the type of show I would rewatch again, because I know what is going to happen.

However, if someone asks me for suggestions for well-written shows, with good character development, excellent chemistry between all actors and that have sucked me completely in, to the detriment of my "real" life, I'd definitely suggest Missing: The Other Side, Both Seasons one and two. You could probably watch only season two and figure out what is going on, but season one really does a good job of laying the groundwork for season two. Really, to be honest, I'm afraid that this show has set a bar so high for me that I'm doomed to be disappointed in other shows, especially since, as a romance lover, there has been so little good to choose from.

Lire davantage

I wanted to like this one, I really did

However, after reading all the good reviews, maybe it's just me, but this show really fell short. The script was all over the place and nothing was delved in too deeply. Even considering that, I still fast-forwarded through a lot. Multiple cases in a law drama can work very well, but here they didn't. I didn't find the cases interesting enough to begin with and the stories felt like they were just to get us to the next episode.

I didn't care for the main characters. Lee Seung Gi - I don't believe I've seen him in anything else and I'm going to find something else to watch him in, but here I didn't find him attractive at all, especially in all of the unfortunate "squid games" track suits. His character wasn't especially likeable throughout the first part of the show. I love the idea of having liked someone for years, but you couldn't really tell, he was terrible to her.

Lee Se Young's character yelled and screamed a lot. I found that very off-putting. I did like how they tried to show her growing through the cases she took on, but she continued to be the "damsel in distress". Then there was the "sex contract". Give me a break!

Jo Han Chul, who I LOVE as an actor, WAY overplayed his part. Was he supposed to be crazy, funny, farcical, sociopathic? I don't know, but I couldn't stand to watch him.

Top all that off with the fact that I didn't feel chemistry between the leads. Now I feel like I need to re-watch something I've already loved to cleanse my K-drama palate!

Lire davantage

How is it possible to get bored with only 10 episodes!?!?

The first few episodes rushed the whole story along and then they had to backtrack and add problems to fill in the rest of the episodes. I couldn't wait to finish this one. For me, this fell in the camp of "that's time I'll never get back."
Here are some of the problems that I had: 1) why did he like her? From just seeing her? 2) the ML was very one-dimensional, showed absolutely no emotion whatsoever throughout the show; 3) the FL starts out somewhat strong and has career goals for herself, and ended up just giving everything up for him; 4) Look up stalker in the dictionary - ML's picture will be there; 5) the show was unbalanced, it tried to go from ROMCOM to farce and then started to take itself seriously; 6) Almost every man in this show liked the FL. Why? 7) Large cast with inadequate development of characters. Grandmother was the cliche "bad guy" and the brother seemed to be thrown in to try to further the story and that whole storyline was not addressed in a way that made any sense; 8) No chemistry between the leads; 9) she spends a lot of time, in essence telling him to go away and not be a stalker, but then she's in love with him. Again, why?

This is a show that was actually irritating me as I watched it. For one reason, I think I've only ever dropped one drama and I felt compelled to complete this one, and that made me mad. As I was watching it, I just felt that, the leads especially, were just going through the motions. I couldn't relate to them and I didn't care about them.

Lire davantage

It didn't deliver for me

This show had a lot of good moments, but for me they were few and far between. Go Kyung-pyo (Kung-soo) and Chae Soo-bin (Dan-ah) played their parts well, but the script fell short, mostly because of how irritating and unlikeable the character of Dan-ah was. I did, however, love the character of Kung-soo. I was impressed by his strong feeling of right and wrong. I also loved the community he built with all the drivers he'd worked with over the years. That was the strong point of this show, the friendships. The demonstration of how people that are enemies can become friends, how friendships remain even after your geography changes. It was a testament to Kung-soo that he had all the friends he had, because he was genuinely a good and nice person.

Dan-ah was kind of the polar opposite. She was not a nice person, and because of that, didn't really have friends. Everyone was either in awe of her or feared her. She apparently was never taught to use her words, because she is forever hitting or kicking someone, which sometimes worked for the sake of comedy, but certainly didn't endear her to me.

The ending tied things up neatly but wasn't especially memorable.

Lire davantage

I didn't think this would EVER end!

I fell asleep numerous times watching this, it was so drawn out, with SO MUCH unnecessary stuff. Every episode I was like, "Get to the point already!" So much of what happened was for the sole purpose of making this drama longer. Why, I have no idea. The story was a typical Chinese school story. Girl likes boy, boy might like girl but absolutely nothing happens between them until 3/4 of the way through the show,

I loved the male lead character. Aside from being gorgeous, he was a very nice guy and his smile was lovely. The female lead was actually scary looking at the beginning, but you got the impression that he might like her regardless of the hair and the braces, which was nice. During the short period of time they were actually together, they were cute, but they had the typical breakup storyline, and I felt it was more stupid than most. As usual, the ending was rushed.

Now, concerning the second couple, they were extremely irritating. He was a complete jerk to everyone, especially her. She was a stalker, in essence. I don't know in how many different ways he told her to go away, but no, she just kept coming back for more abuse. I think this sends a bad message. Stalking is never okay (so, it might not technically be stalking, but she was certainly following him around). This makes me think that her self-esteem is so low she has no business being in a relationship anyway. Then, once he decided her liked her (for what reason remains a mystery), she blows him off. Again, to make the show longer.

As far as the positives go, I did appreciate that the costume designers didn't put them in ridiculous clothes and that she actually wore jeans, which is a nice change to see.

Lire davantage

Talk about chemistry!

D.O. and Nam Ji Hyun both did a wonderful job. Their parts were written so well. D.O., as the crown prince, had the hauteur that you'd expect from royalty. Even when his memories were gone, it was ingrained in him. Yet, there was a loneliness and vulnerability and you could feel his want of family. His facial expression was pretty flat through most of the show, but he has such expressive eyes. Nam Ji Huyn - how can a woman be so beautiful with no visible means of mascara on her eyelashes? Normally, makeup is used to enhance looks, but she doesn't need it. Her character was spunky, industrious and extremely likeable. To be honest, I've loved her in everything I've seen her in. Their chemistry together? Off the charts! I loved the scenes when they shared the screen. Everyone in the show did a good job, but I had to deduct points for two reasons. First, there were just too many evil guys in this drama and they all looked alike (that's my problem with period costumes). Evil men, evil women, evil groups, evil sub-groups. It left a sour taste in my mouth on the heels of the lovely romantic scenes. I had to deduct another point for the last episode and the tie-up of the relationship between the leads. She was strong throughout this show, and she always seemed to have a good sense of self. However, she suddenly did a 180 turn and pulled out the "I'm not worthy of your love" card. It didn't ring true, especially after the heart-wrenching scenes of each of them living separately. And her saying she'd marry that other man? Um, no. It felt to me like they pulled in a separate writer for the last episode and the flow was lost. There was a happy ending, but they waited until about the last five minutes to tie everything up. I was so disappointed after all the time I had invested in watching their relationship develop and unfold.

Lire davantage

Not much to see here...

What I liked:
1) The main actors were excellent.
2) Original storyline.
3) She got over being a doormat quickly.
4) Mix of the old and new.
5) They didn't harp on the fact that she was older than him.
6) Some cute moments between them.
7) Some cute cultural difference exchanges.

Not so much:
1) Lacking in the romance department. Lots of ancillary stuff going on.
2) Even at the end, he was still calling her "teacher".
3) Too many episodes.
4) Not a lot of emotional feelings between the couple. I felt like they were telling me they were in love, rather than showing me.
4) The killer for me was the ending. What the heck!?! Neither one of them seemed very upset about going their separate ways. Obligatory (stupid) one year time jump, and he shows up in Paris out the blue. The fact that he was in traditional clothes led me to believe that he was just visiting and would go back to his own life. Nothing drops a rating faster for me than an ending that sucks.

Lire davantage

Frustrating watch

I liked season 1 well enough, but this season, for me, left a lot to be desired.

Most of the drama was about indecisions of the ML, the FL trying to move on but not wanting to, multiple other potential couples to fill in the spaces. I still liked the acting of the ML and the FL, but the story just kept moving from one person to the next.

There's a girl that has always liked the ML and she uses emotional blackmail on him. I hate that.
FL tries to date someone else, but the actor that was the 2ML was just too "pretty" and the bob hairstyle didn't help at all.

My mantra while watching this was, "Only two more episodes, only one more episode." I will say, though, since it is short, if you've watched the first one and want to feel like you've completed the series, give this a try.

Lire davantage